


A Different Kind of Hunger

by hibiren



Series: Jay's Gladnis Collection [27]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Banter, Biting, Blood, Blood Drinking, Confusion, Embarrassment, Fainting, Late at Night, Light Whump, M/M, Some Humor, Storms, Unconsciousness, Vampires, Whump, Whumptober, Whumptober 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2020-12-09 12:26:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20994776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hibiren/pseuds/hibiren
Summary: [Whumptober Prompt #10 "Unconscious"] Ignis finds a strange man on his doorstep and decides to help him.





	A Different Kind of Hunger

**Author's Note:**

> ahh I've been unexpectedly busy with my new job but I finally had some time to sit down and write this idea! I'd been musing about writing a vampire fic and I realized that I never (to my remembrance) had written one before! So here's some vampire!Gladio! [as it's for whumptober and is a vampire fic, I just wanted to clarify there's a small amount of blood/blood drinking in this one as well as unconsciousness (as the prompt says) and other general warnings apply. Enjoy my somewhat silly whumptober prompt fill!

The night started out peaceful. A light, calming rain left Ignis feeling pleasant as he sat on his couch, his new cooking magazine in hand. He browsed its pages with mild interest, thankful for a distraction from a long day at work. After a few mental notes to try some of the dinner recipes sometime in the future, Ignis’ thoughts were interrupted by a loud burst of thunder and near-instantaneous flash of lightning as the rain picked up, the wind howled, pushing against the walls of his apartment and rattling the windows. With a sigh, Ignis stood and went to pull the curtains behind him closed, but the sound of a heavy _thump_ against the door made him pause.

It was far too late for it to be a package delivery - on top of that, Ignis didn’t remember ordering anything online recently. With a worried frown, Ignis stepped close to the door and peered through the peephole. Nothing.

“Perhaps it was the wind,” Ignis muttered to himself, though he felt unsure and rather silly for assuming so. “It _is_ rather late, I ought to try to sleep…”

Another loud thud accompanied a series of quick knocks on the door, short bursts of sound that just barely registered over the steady pouring rain and rumbling thunder.

What was going on?

Ignis reached to the doorside for the closest thing he could find to defend himself with - a metal shoehorn, of all things - and slowly undid the lock to open the door.

Shoehorn raised, Ignis called out, “Who’s there?”

He looked around. No one was there… or so he thought. In a crumpled pile at Ignis’ feet lay a man who looked very much worse for wear. Rain-soaked dark brown hair clung to his head, his clothes were in tatters, and he laid limp on the ground as if he’d been exhausted running from someone, or some_thing._ Perhaps he’d been attacked by an animal, or hit by a car… whatever happened, Ignis knew he couldn’t possibly be in any danger if this man were truly hurt.

Kneeling, Ignis asked the shuddering man, “What happened to you? Are you alright?”

Strangely resonant amber eyes locked with his and Ignis felt a flash of fear strike him. The man weakly rolled over onto his side and muttered at the ground, “I… I need… help.”

“Are you in danger? What’s going on?” Ignis asked, but paused instead to say, “Nevermind that for now, we ought to get you inside and out of this dreadful rain. You look like you’ve been through quite a lot already…”

All of this was going against Ignis’ better judgment but for some reason, he just couldn’t stop himself from helping this strange man into his apartment and assisting him in settling (somewhat painfully) onto the couch. It seemed small in comparison to the man’s body and just then it hit him how… _large_ this stranger was. It was certainly intimidating. Whatever had potentially wounded him this bad, Ignis wondered if he might be next on its menu for offering a helping hand.

“Did you want me to call an ambulance?” Ignis asked, and the stranger just laughed.

“Nah… that… won’t be necessary.” His voice was gruff, but hesitant as he spoke. “Thanks, though.”

“Of course… let’s get you cleaned up, alright?” suggested Ignis, making his way over to his kitchen where he stored his first-aid supplies. “My name is Ignis, by the way. I suppose I should have introduced myself sooner but I wasn’t quite sure how… coherent you were.”

“Mm. Name’s Gladiolus, but, you can call me Gladio if you want,” hummed Gladiolus with a breathy chuckle. There was that strange shiver again, trailing up Ignis’ spine as if he’d stepped in something cold.

When Ignis stepped back to the couch, first-aid kit, bottled water, and clean rags in hand, Gladiolus closed his eyes, a weak smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

“I’m not bleeding, if you’re worried… I… I’m just exhausted.”

“So, you _are_ in danger?” Ignis pressed, wondering why any of his prior questions received barely-passable answers. He tried not to show the frustration on his face as he looked over Gladiolus with a skeptical eye, wondering exactly what was going on. The thought to pinch himself to see if he was dreaming occurred to him, but Ignis pushed it aside with a grim huff. He offered up the water bottle to Gladiolus instead, but he gave one glance at it and shook his head.

“You can help me. You just might not like it.”

“Oh? Try me. I’ve… done many unpleasant things.”

“I’m hungry.”

Was this some kind of joke? Ignis crossed his arms and resisted the urge to throw the man back outside into the storm. Just who was this man? What was going on in his head?

“You’re in luck, then. I spend much of my free time experimenting with recipes. I’m nowhere near a professional chef, but… if you’re hungry, perhaps it ought to be best to start with something light, like bread, or soup…”

Gladiolus laughed, but it sounded more like a wheeze as he struggled to speak, “You weren’t listening, were you? I’m _hungry.”_

When Ignis opened his mouth to complain, Gladiolus opened his, too, and that was when Ignis felt his stomach drop to the floor. Two sharp, _pointed_ fangs stood out very visibly against the relatively flat lines of his other teeth. There was no way. Perhaps this man was a traveler from the local theater club who became a bit too invested in his role… like this was some kind of ungodly test on Ignis’ sanity.

Eyes closed, Gladiolus whispered, “They’re real. Trust me. I… the reason I’m like this…” He trailed off for a very long time and Ignis wondered if he’d passed out, until he slowly opened his eyes halfway and continued, “...I haven’t fed in so long, it’s… really killing me.”

“So… soup is out of the question, I suppose,” Ignis said bitterly, setting the first-aid kit aside and placing the water bottle next to it. He sat on the very edge of the couch by Gladiolus’ feet and sighed, putting his hands to his head in complete disbelief. “If I’m understanding this right, you’re a… _vampire._ And… you want _my_ blood. You want to...” Ignis tried not to gag as he continued, _“drink_ it.”

“...Yeah, that’s right.”

“And… if I let you bite me, it’s not going to… turn me, is it?”

“Ha! No. I’d have to do a whole bunch of complicated stuff. And that’s on top of drinking you dry, which, I… I’m not _that_ hungry. Guess you could think about it as not eating for a week except… drinking...” Gladiolus glanced around for the water bottle and weakly jabbed a finger at it, “That.”

Ignis slowly shifted closer, trying to catch a glimpse of Gladiolus’ fangs again. “If you, ah, _take_ from me - so to speak - that’s all you want. Yes? And… you’ll leave?”

“Should have enough energy to stand, probably walk, sure. C’mere.”

Despite the gruffness in his direction, Gladiolus smiled and whispered as Ignis found himself pulled closer, “Don’t worry. It might hurt a bit at first, but it’ll feel good after a moment.”

Again, against Ignis’ better judgment, he found himself pulled into this man’s - _vampire’s_ \- lap, and it was then he really took note of how cold, how chilled his skin was. Like touching ice.

Gladiolus brushed a stray piece of Ignis’ hair aside and brought his cold fingertips to the back of Ignis’ neck, tilting and urging his head closer. Ignis, no matter how hard he tried, just couldn’t resist. It was as if his body froze up in panic, as if it refused to respond to his frantic urges to fight, to run…

The next moment, Ignis felt a sharp stinging sensation as Gladiolus slowly, almost carefully, bit down on Ignis’ exposed neck. Ignis shuddered, a weak, frightened whimper escaping, but Gladiolus offered a gentle stroke along the back of Ignis’ head as he slowly began to drink. That strange, throbbing sensation Ignis felt pulsing along his neck spread outward until he thought his whole body would seize, but then - all of the pain subsided. As if replaced by a strange feeling of pleasant numbness. He could almost hear Gladiolus’ voice in his head, coaxing him, his arms offering an embrace of thankful protection as if to say, _just let go for a while._

When Ignis came to, he was lying partially on his side, the blanket that had been folded and laid along the top of his couch draped across the length of his body. There was a pillow beneath his head. Perhaps this had all been a dream? Some kind of hallucination from overwork, or a developing sickness? Ignis looked around and it slowly registered that he was in his own apartment. Clamoring from the kitchen confirmed that he wasn’t alone.

Shakily, Ignis raised a hand to feel along his neck and instead of gushing blood, he felt the soft cotton of a gauze pad and the seamlines of some medical tape. _Oh, dear._

“You alright over there, Iggy?” came an unfortunately familiar deep voice from the kitchen. Gladiolus appeared, carrying a bowl in his hands and a water bottle tucked beneath his arm. He set the bowl down on the coffee table beside the couch and with a quick look into it, Ignis recognized the contents to be from a can of tomato soup. He groaned and looked away, holding his stomach as a wave of nausea hit. He wasn’t dreaming, and the weakness that chilled his bones was fully real. Food was the last thing on his mind.

Gladiolus just tucked the blankets a bit more beneath Ignis and offered a smile, and the tips of his fangs just barely showed through. Ignis did his best not to look, and swallowed back the bitter feeling in the back of his throat.

“Not hungry, huh? How’re you feeling?”

“You seem… enthusiastic,” Ignis spluttered, feeling his cheeks burn with an embarrassed heat at how strangely kind this vampire was treating him. “Why… why care so much? I thought you’d just drink my blood and leave… I wasn’t expecting to pass out, but… it seems you’ve certainly made yourself comfortable while I was unconscious.”

“You ought to try to drink some water. It’ll help.”

“Is this going to be a common occurrence, with you around? Are you going to haunt me now that you have a reliable food source?” spat Ignis, hovering a protective hand over his bandaged neck. “I regret inviting you in, I don’t think I can take that back, can I?”

“Hey, easy, Ignis,” Gladiolus whispered, “You shouldn’t move around so much after - ”

“After what?! After you almost killed me?! I think not - ”

Ignis roughly tugged the blanket off of himself and stood, his plan to make it to the bedroom and shut himself inside - but his feet refused to comply and he crumpled somewhat uselessly into Gladiolus’ waiting arms. He tried to push Gladiolus away, but the vampire just held him. He seemed to be giving off a low, faint warmth - _you’re welcome,_ Ignis thought - and continued holding onto Ignis until his racing heart calmed just fractionally.

“I promise I won’t do it again. Not unless you let me. I… should be alright for a while.”

“And what about me? Am I supposed to be your blood-donor from this point on? Are you going to pester me until I let you drink again? I’m not so sure what _I_ get out of this… relationship.”

“Well, it felt good, didn’t it?” asked Gladiolus, following Ignis’ train of thought as he gave him a gentle squeeze. “Now that I’ve got my strength back, I can help you out ‘round the apartment, I can… well, I can offer you _other_ things. You live here alone, yeah? Doesn’t look like you’ve got pictures of anyone else with you. I, um… may have had a look around while you were sleeping.”

Ignis slowly peeled himself from the vampire’s embrace to sit back down on the couch. “Be that as it may, I wish you wouldn’t treat my apartment with such disdain. And… if you insist on staying… please don’t go sneaking through my things. One more thing… if… if you are to drink from me again,” Ignis hesitated, “I’d rather not pass out next time. I don’t want to risk missing a shift at work because I was having the life drained out of me. I don’t think ‘I was preoccupied with my unfortunate new vampire roommate’ is an acceptable excuse to be late. Understand?”

“Oh, damn, I guess you’re right,” Gladiolus mused, tapping a finger against his chin as he thought. “I mean, I shouldn’t need to take that much next time, if I try to keep up on it. I’ll only need a little bit. And it did feel good for you, yeah? Vampire trade secret.” Gladiolus winked and Ignis shivered, but offered a weak smile in response.

“You’ll… have to show me again, I don’t recall feeling very pleasant last time.”

“Of course, I can show you any time,” Gladiolus offered, looming somewhat over Ignis as he braced one arm on the couch beside Ignis’ head. Ignis stared back at him blankly, but eventually offered a shrug.

“Later, but… I think I’d be alright with that. One favor?”

“Hm?”

“Don’t bite my neck so… visibly. I don’t want to have to explain my… ‘injuries’ to coworkers. I’d really rather not.”

“Mm, I think I can do that.” Gladiolus smiled, and his fangs seemed to shine in agreement.

**Author's Note:**

> I think Gladio makes a pretty good vampire! hehehehehe


End file.
